COMIC BOOK CULTURE: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Ron Goulart. Collectors Press; 2000. NOTE: As comics are also a visual medium like film, Great Old Movies will occasionally review comics and books about comics.
This is a huge, heavily illustrated coffee table book giving a fascinating history of the American comic book industry from the very early days up into the end of the golden age. Unlike Steranko’s History of Comics, which covered roughly the same period, you won’t find much criticism in this book but it is a well-written and entertaining overview, with chapters on early comic books that recycled newspaper funnies, Old Masters such as Bill Everett and Lou Fine, the Invasion of the Super-Heroes, “laff” comics, super-patriots such as the Shield, and a Brief History of “Good Girl Art.” Many, many comic book covers have been beautifully reproduced and this is packed with solid information about the early days of the comic book industry.
Verdict: Lavish tribute to this peculiarly American art form. ***
This is a huge, heavily illustrated coffee table book giving a fascinating history of the American comic book industry from the very early days up into the end of the golden age. Unlike Steranko’s History of Comics, which covered roughly the same period, you won’t find much criticism in this book but it is a well-written and entertaining overview, with chapters on early comic books that recycled newspaper funnies, Old Masters such as Bill Everett and Lou Fine, the Invasion of the Super-Heroes, “laff” comics, super-patriots such as the Shield, and a Brief History of “Good Girl Art.” Many, many comic book covers have been beautifully reproduced and this is packed with solid information about the early days of the comic book industry.
Verdict: Lavish tribute to this peculiarly American art form. ***
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